Supreme Court upholds Constitutionality of individual mandate in federal health care law listen

Tags: health care reform, ACA, Affordable Care Act, Supreme Court, Constitution

Darden Rice.

photo by Seán Kinane/WMNF

The Supreme Court of the United States found the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to be Constitutional if there are tax penalties, but not if it’s interpreted as a fee through the Commerce Clause.

The Supreme Court also said the law’s expansion of Medicaid could proceed as long as the federal government does not withhold the entire Medicaid allotment to states if they refuse to participate in the expansion.

Florida Republicans are upset at the ruling. Governor Rick Scott called the decision “disappointing.” Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater sent out a press release praising the court for striking down the law before issuing a recall of that erroneous statement and then issuing a new one and an updated one that said, “I remain deeply troubled, however, that Congress and the Obama administration would use an issue of such importance to the American people to disguise their intentions to add further tax burdens on our fellow citizens.”

We spoke with Darden Rice, communications director for Progress Florida’s Protect Your Care Campaign.

Florida CHAIN

Here's the full 193-page ruling:

Supreme Court of US rules Affordable Care Act is constitutional